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Records continue to tumble

After dark horse Tom Ingram stole the honours with a pace-setting performance in the morning’s opening Free Practice session, it was West Surrey Racing’s Sam Tordoff who topped the standings in FP2 – and with an even faster record lap time.

Multiple BTCC champion Matt Neal and subsequently Ingram led the way over the early stages before times tumbled during the final ten minutes, as teams began to focus on their qualifying simulations.

Aron Smith was first to show his hand, leaping to the top of the pile for series newcomer BKR before Tordoff underlined the competitiveness of the rear-wheel drive BMW around the short Brands Indy Circuit.

The impressive Ingram held onto third with Speedworks Motorsport, whilst a last-gasp effort from defending champion Gordon Shedden saw the Scot grab fourth spot for Halfords Yuasa Racing. Adam Morgan made it five different cars inside the top five with his WIX Racing Mercedes A-Class, with Neal in a second works Honda Civic Type R winding up sixth.

Colin Turkington was again the best-placed of the Subaru Team BMR quartet, lapping 19th-quickest, just over a second adrift of Tordoff’s benchmark. Setting another BTCC record, meanwhile, the full-capacity 32-car entry all took to the track, with rookie Michael Epps’ repaired RCIB Insurance Racing Toyota Avensis joining the morning’s already impressive tally of 31 challengers.

With both Free Practice sessions now completed, teams are gearing up for the season’s first no-holds-barred qualifying shoot-out – the only time all year when the entire BTCC field will run without success ballast. You can follow the action on www.itv.com/btcc at 15.40.